If you’ve never heard of The Gloria Foundation, a visit to their website reveals these lines beneath two simple and sobering words: “The Facts”

These are facts indeed, and Karen Arakelian founded The Gloria Foundation for the sole purpose of helping “provide resources to local safe houses and domestic violence organizations” in order to make a difference and help victims of domestic violence.

Karen Arakelian, founder of the Gloria Foundation

In an elegant show of support and solidarity, The Gloria Foundation hosted their 4th Annual Taste of Italy event on the 27th at Design Consign in Fairfield, NJ. The event had delicious catering, a live band, drinks, beautiful upscale furniture, and most importantly: all proceeds went directly to Partners for Women and Justice, who provide pro bono legal services for domestic violence victims.

Student volunteers at the event from Montville HS

Some of the beautiful furniture sold at Design Consign for the event

Caviar donated by Calvisius was given out in free samples with all sales going towards Partners for Women and Justice

Many gathered together dressed to nines in support of The Gloria Foundation and Partners for Women and Justice, making donations, mingling, and enjoying all that the evening and venue had to offer. It’s thanks to wonderful organizations like these aand strong women like Ms. Arakelian that we can look to the future in earnest for a society where victims of domestic violence can easily find the safety and support they deserve.

VUE is a lifestyle magazine throughout Northern New Jersey that highlights the finer things in life such as dining, travel, design and fortune. In this case VUE was recognizing The Gloria Foundation for their work throughout New Jersey surrounding domestic violence.

The Gloria Foundation, a non-profit’s, mission is to help victims of domestic violence by providing the necessary resources to local safe houses and other domestic violence organizations. This is not just a problem in New Jersey, domestic violence is prevalent throughout the entire world.

According to Jason Underberg, Publisher and Founder of VUE stated that “each year, police report tens of thousands of domestic offenses in the state of New Jersey alone…now is an important time as any to support courageous organizations like The Gloria Foundation and to stand together against domestic violence.”

The event was themed to recreate “Alice in Wonderland” having the venue staff was dressed up as Alice in Wonderland characters and having aerial acrobatics perform throughout the venue. Sponsoring the event were vendors from LDV Hospitality,BreakThru Beverageand Camus.

The evening was concluded by the guests offering a toast to The Gloria Foundation for their success in raising awareness about domestic violence throughout the community. Overall, the event was a success raising about $4,000 for The Gloria Foundation.

#HipNJ spoke with Karen Arakelian, founder of The Gloria Foundation, about the foundation and its recent “Taste Of Italy” event.

The Gloria Foundation, founded in 2013, is a non-profit initiative helping victims of domestic violence. Their mission is to help provide resources to local safe houses and domestic violence organizations.

Arakelian told us that she founded the foundation in memory of her mother Gloria, who was a domestic violence victim. “I thought about what really formed me into who I am. Watching what she went through made me not ever want to depend on anyone,” she said.

Her mother went through a divorce in the 1970’s, a period during which divorce was highly stigmatized. Her mother had not worked and did not drive. After the divorce, she had to get her own job, learn to drive, and learn to be self-sufficient. This inspired Arakelian, and caused her to realize that she wanted to start something to give back.

The 3rd annual “Taste of Italy” event was held on September 28, 2016 at Design Consign in Fairfield. It was an evening of tasting delicious Italian specialties from the area’s finest restaurants, sampling wine from the beautiful countryside of Italy, and listening to live music under the stars. The event featured caviar by Calvisius Caviar and vodka byClaremont Distillery.

What inspired the event? “First of all, I’m Italian,” Arakelian jokes. “I love to entertain.” This event was not just for fun. It also supported a great cause. Proceeds went toPartners for Women and Justice, a non-profit organization that provides free legal help in New Jersey to low income, abused victims of domestic violence.

They managed to raise around $15,000. About 100 people were in attendance, not including volunteers. “It’s a beautiful thing when the whole community chips in. It really is a team effort,” Arakelian said.

Every seven minutes, someone reports a domestic violence issue in New Jersey. For more information, head over to The Gloria Foundation’s website.

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